Come hear librarian/archivist Russell Johnson, History and Special Collections for the Sciences at the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, talk about “More Baby Books Than You Can Shake a Rattle At: Building aNew Collection for Research in the History of Infant Development” at the UCSD Biomedical Library on May 7 from 11 am to Noon.

The UCLA Biomedical Library is collecting 19th-21st century baby books — that is, memory books in which parents record a child’s activities and developmental milestones as well as gather photographs, locks of hair, and other memories. Many books track individualized medical information — from height and weight to various childhood diseases; some also provide infant health care advice. The collection of more than 500 titles and editions, with more than 1200 different copies, now spans 125 years.

Do you have an interesting baby book from your family that you would like to “show and tell”? If so, bring it along to share with the group.

Space is limited so RSVP as soon as possible to Vicky Anderson at vkanderson@ucsd.edu in order to reserve a seat for this fascinating talk.